A large-scale volunteer effort has been underway at Canterbury this year, with the goal of having every child in our community working to his/her full potential.  You may have seen the fliers – the program is called The Village.  The Village at Canterbury is part of the Many Villages project sponsored by Reaching Heights. It began over two years ago at Roxboro Elementary, and was so successful there that Reaching Heights took charge of expanding the program into three other elementary schools this year: Canterbury, Fairfax and Noble.

The Village is a community-based volunteer program that will provide committed, trained tutors to every teacher in the building. Consultants at Reaching Heights have developed standards-based materials, or “tool kits”, which are available to teachers, so that working with tutors need not create an additional burden for them.

Planning here at Canterbury began early last spring, when a representative from Reaching Heights spoke with our PTA about the program and our desire to spearhead it here. With the enthusiastic support of former principal, Serena Edwards, and our Canterbury volunteer coordinator, Meg Pauken, the program was off and running.  Meg met with the staff in April and again in June to describe the program and enlist support. Lisa Berusch, our consultant from Reaching Heights, provided us with guidance and direction in recruiting volunteers, developing a volunteer handbook and training the new tutors.  This fall, Mr. Harrell embraced the project and gave it his full support.

The Canterbury community has responded in its usual way: With 51 volunteers, we far exceeded our original goal of 35.  Even more importantly, as of today, 15 of the 18 classroom teachers have made time in their schedules for Village volunteers to assist students in reaching their full potential. Volunteer registration forms are available on the PTA table outside the office, so if you or someone you know would like to join The Village, we welcome you. Contact Meg Pauken at mmpauken@paukenlaw.com or 321-1437.